Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Barron's Writing · 2026-10-06
IELTS Writing Task 2 question
A growing number of people rely on restaurants and convenience food (frozen food and packaged meals) rather than home-cooked food to supply most of their meals.
What are the advantages and disadvantages of eating this way?
Give reasons for your answer, and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.
Student answer (Band 5.5)
In today's modern world, People prefer to eat packed and frozen meals prepared in restaurants instead of cooking meals at home. There are merits as well as demerits of Frozen meals, But i think that there are more disadvantages compared to advantages, I will explain my point of view in the upcoming paragraph with a suitable example.
Nowadays, the majority of human beings prefer to eat outside or take frozen/instant meals. There are lots of reason behind it. Firstly, the frozen food is cheaper as compared to fresh food. Also, Due to hactic schedule, People started ordering food from restaurants rather athan making it at home to save their time. Moreover, There is variety pof foods available outside that Pupils can order and its cheaper as compared to fresh food that we can make at home.
On the Flip side of the coin, There are lots of drawbacks of eating food from convenience stores. The crucial one is that the packed food is unhealthy. The fruits and vegetables used by the hotels, restaurants are not fresh at all. Moreover, The junk food is loaded with palm oil and spices that is harmful for health. Although it takes time to make food at home, but home-cooked food is far better than fast food as home-cooked food is made with proper hygiene and with fresh ingredients. In addition to it, Sometimes, the home cooked meals are cheaper than outside.
To conclude, there are lots of merits as well as demerits of eating frozen foods, But According to my Prospective, Eating outside has more disadvantages as compared to advantages. So Folks should aware about the consequences of eating unhealthy food and they have to switch to home-cooked meals
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 6.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 6.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0
You address both sides of the question and make your position clear: you acknowledge lower cost, convenience and choice, then argue that the health risks outweigh these benefits. The points about saving time because of a “hactic schedule” and the use of oil and spices are relevant. However, some ideas are asserted rather than explained. For example, the claim that restaurant ingredients “are not fresh at all” is too broad, and the advantages paragraph repeats that food is cheaper without developing a specific example. The conclusion restates your view but could more directly summarise the main reasons. To strengthen the response, explain how convenience or affordability affects people’s daily lives and support health claims with a concrete example.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5
The response has a clear overall structure: an introduction, a paragraph on advantages, a paragraph on disadvantages, and a conclusion. The progression from benefits to drawbacks is easy to follow, and signposts such as “Firstly,” “Moreover,” and “To conclude” help guide the reader. This meets the lower-band expectation of coherent organisation and shows some of the clearer progression associated with a stronger performance. However, linking is sometimes mechanical, with several points introduced by “Moreover,” and “On the Flip side of the coin” is an overly formulaic transition. Some references are unclear, such as “its cheaper,” where the referent is not precise. Group related points and use more varied, natural links to make the argument flow more smoothly.
Lexical Resource: Band 5.0
You use enough topic-related vocabulary to communicate the main ideas, including “frozen meals,” “convenience stores,” “fresh ingredients,” and “home-cooked food.” There are also attempts at less common expressions, such as “loaded with palm oil” and “consequences.” However, the range is limited and several word choices or collocations are inaccurate or awkward, which can make the reader pause. Examples include “hactic schedule,” “variety pof foods,” “Prospective” for “perspective,” and “Folks should aware.” Repetition of “food,” “cheaper,” and “home-cooked” also restricts flexibility. Check spelling carefully and learn natural collocations for discussing cost, convenience and health; this will make your meaning more precise and fluent.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0
You attempt both simple and complex sentences, including a contrast with “Although it takes time to make food at home” and a relative clause in “the junk food is loaded with palm oil and spices that is harmful for health.” These attempts show some range, but control is inconsistent, and errors sometimes make sentences difficult to read. For example, “Although it takes time …, but home-cooked food is far better” uses two contrasting structures together; “Folks should aware” is missing a verb; and “There are lots of reason” has a number-agreement error. Capitalisation and punctuation are also inconsistent, with many unnecessary capitals after commas. Practise accurate clause construction, subject–verb agreement and sentence boundaries, then proofread for these patterns.
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